With these words she left the room.
BRIANNA OPENED her bedroom door and cocked her head to listen. The muted sound of a television was the only noise. It was after midnight and she assumed one of Troy’s partners was watching the tube or sleeping in front of it.
The phone hadn’t rung throughout the long hours of the night, but the fear inside her had grown to such proportions she could hardly stand it.
Where was her father? Was he still alive? She didn’t know what she’d do if something happened to him. She eased the bedroom door open and took a step into the hallway.
She’d never been the kind of woman to sit passively by and do nothing. Despite the fact that she’d told Troy she intended to go to bed, she had to do something or she’d go mad.
Troy. Even though they’d been at odds for much of their time together, there had been several times during the course of the evening when she’d wanted to launch herself into his strong arms. She’d wanted him to wrap her up in an embrace so tight she could hear his heart beating with hers, smell his cologne that, in the space of such a short time, had become oddly familiar and comforting.
She’d seen his sports car pull away a couple of hours ago. She’d noticed only a pickup was left in the driveway.
Instead of heading toward the grand staircase that led down to the foyer, Brianna went the opposite direction to a back, narrow set of stairs that took her to the kitchen. From there she could leave the house and go to the four-car garage in back. Nobody would know she’d left, and she’d be back before morning.
She held her breath as she walked down the stairs, praying that one didn’t creak loud enough to stir anyone’s interest. If her father had really been taken because of a business deal, then she needed to learn everything she could about that deal. The place to do that was in her father’s downtown office.
Before stepping into the kitchen she paused and listened once again. She sure didn’t want to encounter Lucas helping himself to a late-night snack or getting a drink of water. She didn’t want to have to explain her actions to anyone. She just wanted to do something, anything that made her feel as if she were helping her dad.
There was no indication that anyone was in the kitchen so she stepped into the darkened room and crept to the back door. Four numbers punched into the security panel unarmed the door, and she stepped outside into the warm September air.
A full moon spilled down luminous light as she ran toward the garage. Inside would be the sportutility vehicle that she always drove when she was home for a visit.
She pulled a set of keys from her jeans pocket, unlocked the garage door and went inside. She was hoping Lucas wouldn’t hear her start her car or pull out. She didn’t want to worry anybody; she just wanted to do what she felt she needed to do.
She didn’t bother turning on the overhead lights. The illumination filtering in the open garage door was enough for her to see her vehicle. She opened the car door and slid inside, then leaned back against the backrest and sighed wearily.
“Where are we going?”
She squealed at the unexpected but familiar deep voice coming from the backseat. She whirled around to see Troy. “What are you doing back there?”
He leaned forward, bringing with him the scent of his cologne that she found so arresting. “I had a feeling you weren’t going to stay put tonight.”
“I thought I might go down to the local club and do a little dancing,” she said with a touch of sarcasm.
“Great, then you don’t mind if I ride along.” He got out of the back and switched to the passenger seat.
“I thought I fired you,” she complained as she started the engine.
He smiled. “You didn’t hire me so you can’t fire me.”
“Then I feel like you’re stalking me.” The truth was she was a little bit happy for his company.
“Get used to it. Until your dad returns home and tells me my services are no longer required, you’re stuck with me. Now, are you going to tell me where we’re really going?”
“To my father’s office.” She backed out of the garage and pushed the button on a remote to lower the garage door. “If this really is about the business deal he’s involved with, then I want to know everything there is to know about that deal.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me that earlier this evening?” His eyes looked almost feral in the light from the dash.
“Because I didn’t think you’d let me go. Because I thought you’d insist I sit still like a good little girl, and I can’t sit another minute longer. I need to do something.” She didn’t want him to give her a hard time about this. She was hanging on by a thread, fighting against the fear for her father that threatened to consume her.
He fastened his seat belt. “Then let’s get it done.”
She flashed him a grateful smile and took off down the street. “How long have you been sitting in the garage?” she asked curiously.
“Since nightfall.”
“Am I that predictable?”
He laughed. It was a low, pleasant rumble that momentarily warmed the chill that had possessed her since learning of her father’s kidnapping. “Actually, you’re that unpredictable. I just had a feeling that you wouldn’t be satisfied sitting around with Heather and her sister all night.”
“I prefer action to hand-wringing,” she replied. Besides, if she sat and wrung her hands for too long she’d start to cry, and there was nothing Brianna hated more than crying.
At this time of night there were few other cars on the road as they headed to the downtown area. She hoped and prayed that somehow they could find a lead hiding in the paperwork in her dad’s office.
Brandon’s office was on the fifth floor of a ten-story office building. She rang a buzzer and a gray-haired security guard opened the door, his face wreathed in a warm smile.
“Brianna, I didn’t know you were back in town,” he said as he allowed them entry and then locked the door behind them.
“Got in a couple of days ago, Charlie,” she replied.
“Read about your trouble the other night,” Charlie said. “Crazy life you lead, Missy.”
“I know, Charlie. I know,” she replied. “We’re going to be a little while in Dad’s office.”
“No problem. Just holler when you’re ready to leave.” He went back to the front desk and sat while she and Troy walked toward a bank of elevators.
“You’re obviously a familiar sight around here,” Troy observed as they stepped into the elevator.
Her heart squeezed painfully tight. “I grew up spending a lot of time here with Dad, and Charlie has been the night security for as long as I can remember.”
The doors whooshed closed and the elevator carried them to the fifth floor, where they stepped out and walked the short distance to Brandon’s offices.
She used her key to unlock the door and turned on the overhead lights. Directly ahead of them was the receptionist’s desk, and behind that desk was the door leading to Brandon’s inner sanctum.
She went to that door and opened it, then flipped on the light, conscious of Troy following right behind her.
For a moment the scent in the room caused a stabbing pain to pierce her heart. It smelled like her dad—a blend of his cologne, the mints he loved to chew and the faint aroma of the cigars he occasionally sneaked.
“Are you okay?” Troy asked softly.
She was vaguely surprised to realize that he was sensitive enough to know that